chem­ istry and metabolism. Complex carbohydrates were the subject of a full session and resis­ tant starch and the role(s) of oligosaccharides were discussed later in the meeting. Another area of fiber metabolism that is beginning to burgeon is that of the short chain fatty acids, and this too was the subject of presentations and discussion. In addition, the more familiar topics in dietary fiber were updated. Workshops devoted to specific areas of fiber research have now become a mainstay of these meetings, and they were repeated successfully. Due to restraints on spending, the attendance at this meeting was somewhat smaller than usual but the discussion was lively and pertinent. We are deeply grateful to our sponsors and contributors for their continuing interest in dietary fiber research, and for their generous support of this symposium.